Premier League outfit Crystal Palace want Cheick Doucoure and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde with Patrick Vieira ‘crazy’ about one of Ligue 1’s breakthrough stars, as reported by FootMercato.
It makes sense that Palace would look to avoid placing all their eggs into one basket.
Because while the FA Cup semi-finalists have already opened talks to bring Doucoure to Selhurst Park, as reported by The Sun, competition for the Malian’s signature is not going to be in particularly short supply.
Aston Villa made a bid for Doucoure last summer and remain in the market for an all-action central midfielder. Tottenham Hotspur have expressed an interest too.
And while Vieira is ‘crazy’ about Doucoure, FootMercato claim that this adaptable, Swiss Army Knife of a footballer has admirers at clubs higher up the Premier League pyramid.
Crystal Palace want Cheick Doucoure and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde
Simply put, Palace have a challenge on their hands.
Perhaps this is why Crystal Palace have also set their sights on Bellegarde, another exciting young midfielder playing a major role at a coupon-busting club dreaming of European qualification.
23-year-old Bellegarde, like Doucoure, is a midfielder with a wide range of skills. Not only an aggressive, commanding ball-winner, Bellegarde can turn defence into attack with one of his trademark marauding runs or pinpoint through balls. He also has a respectable two goals and five assists this term from a deep-lying midfield role.
Interestingly, Palace showed an interest in Bellegarde last year too, long before Vieira took over from Roy Hodgson at Selhurst Park. This may suggest he is a player favoured by Dougie Freedman, Palace’s director of football, rather than the head coach himself.
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Former France U21 ace Bellegarde, labelled ‘one of the fastest players’ in Ligue 1, would cost a lot less than Doucoure, valued by Lens in excess of £17 million.
‘Incredibly complete’
“Cheick knows how to do everything on the pitch,” says Doucoure’s Lens team-mate and captain Seko Fofana. “He works in the shadows and, for me, he is very important.
“He is incredibly complete. He’s one of the best players I’ve played with. He knows how to shoot from a distance, how to pass, break the lines, dribble, defend.”
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